


Every Night Thereafter

by emef



Category: Whitechapel (TV)
Genre: Cluelessness, M/M, Miles physically hauling Chandler into counselling, Unresolved things, Unspoken things, codependent behaviour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-31
Updated: 2014-01-31
Packaged: 2018-01-10 18:09:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1162876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emef/pseuds/emef
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Miles checks up on Chandler.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Every Night Thereafter

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [此後每夜](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2468837) by [emef](https://archiveofourown.org/users/emef/pseuds/emef), [Shingo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shingo/pseuds/Shingo)



> Thanks to [skatingthinandice](http://skatingthinandice.tumblr.com/) for beta!

Miles doesn't notice, at first.

He's a dad, he checks up on people. It's what he does. He can't rest until he knows everyone else is fine. He's like that with his kids, he's like that with his team, and he's like that with Chandler.

They have a hard case: it takes a few weeks and he's always at work until long past 5pm. They order food in for everyone every night, and every night, after dinner, he corners Chandler and asks:

"You alright, then?"

Chandler is a perceptive man; he knows what Miles is asking. And he always nods, except for that one time when he doesn't move at all, and that's the time Miles drags him off to counselling. He gets the feeling that his hand on Chandler's arm - he keeps it there for the entire walk up three staircases and all the way down the hall - is what does him the most good, but he doesn't judge. The counselling probably didn't hurt either.

Miles doesn't even start to notice when the case is over, and he finds himself calling Chandler after dinner.

"You alright, then?"

It just seems considerate. He's been asking Chandler about his mental health every night for over three weeks. The thought of the man going back home, now, alone... Miles doesn't even think twice, he just picks up his mobile.

Now Chandler has to actually speak, however, and that's a change.

"Yes, Miles, I'm well. I - thank you for asking."

"Right then."

"Right."

And Miles hangs up. But every night thereafter, shortly after dinner, He picks up his mobile.

"You alright, then?", he'll ask.

And Chandler answers: "I'm well, Miles. Thank you for asking."

And Miles doesn't notice. He doesn't notice anything. Not a thing.

*

One day, Chandler doesn't answer. Miles tries to ring again, immediately, and that's when - sitting there, on his couch, his phone in his hand - he starts to think about it.

It's... it's breathtaking. Already, he knows that in a minute he is going to get in his car and drive to Chandler's home. If Chandler doesn't answer his door, Miles will break in. He knows this. And all Chandler has done is fail to answer his mobile. Just once, just within the last minute. But Miles knows that he is about to get in his car and find him.

And he thinks: the entire team would regard that as a disproportionate response to a missed telephone call. Even though they know Chandler, even though they know there is no universe in which Chandler would let his mobile's battery die, even though they know that he is compulsive about routine and would never skip a previously scheduled...

And it dawns on Miles that none of them know that he's been ringing Chandler every evening, for months, on a regular schedule. It dawns on him that if they knew, they would probably think... He doesn't know. He doesn't know what they would think. 

And then, just for a moment, just for a fraction of a second, he thinks that maybe he should stop doing it. If everyone on his team would think it strange, then maybe it is strange.

And that's when he notices: he really, really doesn't want to stop doing it.

*

Miles is out of his car and walking up the path to Chandler's building when he realizes that he might have to stop doing it, stop making the calls, whether he wants it or not. It's not just the fact that his team would think it strange; something might actually have happened to him. Miles starts counting the minutes since Chandler failed to answer his mobile, and he thinks: he doesn't want to stop hearing Chandler's voice every evening. He thinks: he wants to know that Chandler knew he was going to ring. He wants to know that Chandler answered his mobile, knowing it would be him. And then -

"Miles!" Chandler is running towards him, on the pavement. Miles feels violently relieved.

"Miles," Chandler says again, and he grips Miles's shoulders. "Miles, I - my mobile was stolen. At the shops."

Miles's heart is beating faster and faster. He gazes up at Chandler. Chandler is leaning over him, both his hands are squeezing his shoulders, and they're swaying together, slightly.

But Miles has always prided himself on his recovery time. "Don't worry, Sir, we'll get you another one."

Chandler's eyes are so guileless. It's like he never, ever holds anything back. Has he always been this way?

"I only noticed it was gone when -"

"I know," Miles cuts him off. "I know, Sir. I was in the neighbourhood, thought I'd come to check."

"Miles, I would never -" Chandler doesn't finish the thought. He grips Miles's shoulder harder.

"I know," Miles says again, and he pulls Chandler into a hug.

Chandler smells like dry-cleaned clothing and tiger balm, and Miles closes his eyes and clings to him. The neighbourhood is quiet around them. Night begins to fall.

Miles takes a deep breath. "You alright, then?"

Chandler nods, the cold tip of his nose moving against Miles's ear.

"And you?"


End file.
